Alice Greczyn Instagram – Swipe! 👉🏼 I highlight the toxic parallels of #religion and #socialjusticeculture so we can recognize and help prevent abuse within each. Both have positive goals. My advocacy lies in helping people recover from the damage of good intentions.
I’ve found healing seeing different ways #fundamentalism presents, whether faith-based or #secular. As more people are shunned and shamed by secular purity culture, there’s a growing need for their support, just as there is for those shunned by religious purity culture.
I aim not to complain without offering solutions, not to criticize without suggesting alternatives, and not to be anti- without stating what I am pro-.
I am anti-shaming, anti-shunning, and anti-public humiliation.
I am pro-curiosity, pro-vulnerability, and pro-private conversations. I am also pro-diversity—diversity of approaches to reaching the same goals. If public call-outs and shunning align with your integrity, go for it. What aligns with my integrity is pointing out how this often backfires and worsens the very problems being called out.
It is not the GOALS of #socialjustice culture I object to—it is their METHODS I am in deep disagreement with. I share the goals of safety, inclusion, and love. I reject the methods of public humiliation, disfellowship, and Behavior Information Thought & Emotional (BITE) Control.
How can we expect people to change when we cut them off from what we hope they’ll change toward? When we bar people’s ability to be in community with others who hold different perspectives, we deprive them of the wisdom and growth that comes with time.
My Christian fundamentalist mind changed because my secular friends accepted me. It took years. Instead of giving up on people who commit #wrongthink, invite them further in. This may not be helpful in every instance. But too often I see calls for “keeping spaces safe” by shunning former members and maligning their character rather than showing, not preaching, what inclusion and diversity look like. Or were these always skin-deep?
Curiosity > condemnation. Understanding > vilification. Compassion > bigotry. Disagreement > disfellowship.
Image credit to @NakedPastor and @CultExpert | Posted on 13/Mar/2024 04:15:00
